Thursday, June 14, 2012

Canada will continue to process Federal Skilled Worker visa backlog

Earlier this year Canadian immigration announced their plans to stop the processing of Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) visa applications submitted before 27 February 2008 and
reject these applications in order to reduce the backlog of visa applications.
However, more recently, the immigration department has reportedly instructed its
visa officers not to return the applications and continue processing the visas.

As part of Canadian immigration's plan to reduce the
backlog of visa applications, the Canadian government announced in
March they would be rejecting almost 300,000 Canadian visa
applications made before 27 February 2008. Their applications were to be
returned and $130 million worth of fees refunded to enable Canadian immigration
to reduce the massive backlog they say has been standing in the way of major
reform to the immigration system.

At least for now, plans to
reject and return the backlog of visa applications will be halted until the
Canadian government announces further instructions on how to proceed. The
government has already directed Canada embassies not to
return the applications and the processing fee and continue processing the
applications.

Traditionally, Canada has had a first-in
first-out system meaning that visa applicants wait in a queue to have their visa
applications processed. Therefore, the decision to reject all of the
applications in the backlog received before 27 February 2008 has proved
detrimental to applicants who have been waiting for years for their applications
to be processed.

Other Canadian immigration options that may
be worth considering include the Quebec Skilled Worker (QSW) program or one of
the Provincial Nominee programs.